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                 IS Claims Responsibility for Orlando Shooting

   by Jeff Seldin

   While U.S. investigators are still trying to determine if there were
   any actual links between the Orlando shooter, 29-year-old American-born
   Omar Mateen, and the Islamic State terror group, Islamic State
   supporters moved quickly to claim responsibility.

   The Amaq News Agency, essentially a propaganda arm of IS, issued
   statements both in Arabic and English Sunday. The English language
   statement said the nightclub attack was "carried out by an Islamic
   State fighter," and it claimed more than 100 homosexuals had been
   killed.

   "That's a legitimate claim," said Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at
   the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

   "But that doesn't mean that Mateen was directed or acting under the
   orders of the Islamic State," he said. "It could be that Amaq is just
   playing off news reports that say Mateen swore allegiance to Islamic
   State either before or during the attack."

   ''

   Still, experts worry this is the type of attention that IS craves,
   especially given the growing string of setbacks the terror group and
   self-proclaimed caliphate has been suffering on the battlefield in
   Syria and Iraq, as well as in Libya.

   "From their perspective, it doesn't matter if he (Mateen) was acting
   under the orders of Islamic State or not," Joscelyn said. "It's a big
   PR win to have one of their supporters do it."

   Early indications are that the Orlando nightclub attack may have, at
   least briefly, reenergized IS followers on social media.

   "IS English language supporters on Twitter attempting a comeback,"
   terror expert and author J.M. Berger posted on his @intelwire Twitter
   account Sunday, adding "one account tweeting 130+ per hour."
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/is-claims-orlando-attack/3372870.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/is-claims-orlando-attack/3372870.html